Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Rashidun Caliphate

  • June 8, 632
    Mohammed, the founder of Islam and unifier of Arabia, dies, and Abu Bakr, his father-in-law, becomes first Caliph during Rashidun Caliphate, the term comprising the first four caliphs in Islam's history
  • August 22, 634
    Abu Bakr, successor of Mohammed and first Caliph, dies; Umar, a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, becomes the second Caliph
  • 634
    Byzantium city of Damascus is captured by the Muslims
  • August 15, 636
    At the Battle at Yarmuk Islamic forces under Khalid ibn al-Walid beat a Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius and gain control of Syria and Palestine
  • 638
    Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab gives an assurance of safety to the people of Jerusalem
  • 639
    Islamic armies invade Egypt
  • 641
    Founding of Fustat near Cairo, the first capital of Egypt under muslim rule
  • November 8, 641
    After a fourteen month siege Muslims take Alexandria from Byzantine Empire completing the conquests of Egypt
  • 642
    Muslim Arabs invade Armenia and capture Dvin, its principal town, slaughtered 12,000 of its inhabitants
  • 642
    Islamic forces decisively defeat Persians at the battle of Nihawand completing the conquest of the Sassanid Empire
  • 642
    The library at Alexandria, Egypt, disappears completely
  • November 7, 644
    Caliph Umar, one of the most powerful caliphs of the Rashidun Caliphate, dies after being stabbed by Pirouz Nahavandi while the morning prayer three days before
  • December 14, 644
    Uthman ibn Affan, one of the companions of Islamic prophet Muhammad, is appointed the third Caliph by council
  • 650
    Zayd ibn Thabit, the personal scribe of Muhammad, with a group of some scribes complete the compilation of Muhammad's revelations into one work called the Koran
  • 650
    Babylonian Talmud, a compilation of documents compiled over the period of Late Antiquity, is finalized in Mesopotamia
  • 651
    Sassanid king Yazdegerd III is assassinated by local miller while his attempt to flee from Merv, marking end of Sassanid Dynasty in Persia
  • June 20, 656
    Caliph Uthman ibn Affan is assassinated, thus Ali becomes caliph
  • November 7, 656
    Rashidun Caliphate beats rebel forces at the Battle of the Camel, the first battle of First Islamic Civil War
  • July 26, 657
    Battle of Siffin occurs between Governor of Syria Muawiyah I and Rashidun Caliphate during the first Muslim civil war
  • January 31, 661
    Muawiyah I, the governor of Levant, founds Umayyad Dynasty in Damascus, after Ali, the last Caliph of Rashidun Caliphate dies, wounded by poison-coated sword while praying in mosque in Iraq three days before, which marks the split of Islam into Sunni and Shi'a branches